Teasing
by the-insufferable-know-it-all
Summary: .HG ONESHOT PREHBP. 'He knew it was very first year and immature, but it was the only way he could talk to her without.. well, it was the only way he could talk to her at all.' He had tried denial. He had tried avoiding her... FULL SUMMARY INSIDE


**Teasing**

_By the-insufferable-know-it-all_

**Summary: (HG one-shot) "**He knew it was very first year and immature, but it was the only way he could talk to her without-well, it was the only way he could talk to her at all." He had tried denial. He had tried avoiding her. He wasn't sure how to deal with his newly found feelings; so he just teased her. Needless to say, it didn't have a good result.

--

He wasn't quite sure when he realized it. It was probably sometime around summer- he had stayed at the Burrow and gotten to talking to her a lot. All he know is that once he had gotten to know her- the real her- he regretted never bothering to talk to her much before this.

He realized it even more when they got to school and she went back to hanging out with her friends –_and Dean_- instead of him. He missed her. Then he had taken it further and realized what it really meant. Which is that he liked her.

And this fact scared him.

At first he just tried to deny it to himself. But then he started stuttering and turning red whenever he talked to her. He felt like how she probably felt when she was in her first year and acted the same way around him. But then he remembered that he was a sixth year, and she was a first year when she had that problem, and then he just felt stupid. He couldn't even get a sentence out. That led him to decide that denial just wouldn't work.

He even tried avoiding her. It worked for a week or two before she confronted him and asked why he was avoiding her. Of course he made an excuse (I've had loads of homework; a little on the lame side, but it was the first thing he thought of) and decided that he couldn't avoid her any longer.

He wasn't quite sure what to do next. He tried hanging out with her again, but it just… didn't feel right. He didn't find himself able to talk to her anymore. He wanted to, but he just couldn't. He needed to think of something that'd let him be able to talk to her.

He wasn't sure how it came about, but before he knew it he was teasing her. He knew it was very first year and immature, but it was the only way he could talk to her without-well, it was the only way he could talk to her at all. It was a last resort.

This had been going on for about a week now. He had found himself smirking more this week than he had ever smirked in his entire life. He felt like Malfoy.

The degree to his teasing wasn't ever mean. It was just an occasional sarcastic remark. Like, for example, this morning when Ginny obviously had accidentally slept in (her hair was a mess), he'd say with a smirk, 'Nice hair, Gin'. He had never been flat out mean to her though.

This was probably because he saw the results first hand. Last night, actually. It wasn't pretty, but he had to admit, he did get a kick out of seeing her so worked up.

First, her face would turn a tinge of pink. You had to be careful what you say next though, because at this point she'll take most words the wrong way, which leads to her face turning beet red. Then she'd start breathing heavily and she would swell a little, and her eyes would spark with anger. She'd start yelling next, until it was just a screaming match.

He only hoped he'd never be on the receiving end of her temper- it could turn quite nasty. He actually felt a little bad for Dean, he only said the wrong thing, and next think you know she blows up. Then a few minutes later, they're not even together anymore.

Okay, so maybe he only felt bad for Dean because he was glad they broke up. But no one else had to know that.

--

On Friday afternoon, (the 1 week anniversary of the day he started teasing her) Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were lounging by the lake in the cool October air. Ron and Hermione were bickering about something or the other. Before he realized it, Hermione had stormed off –again- and Ron had jumped up after her –again- to apologize -again.

He then realized what this meant. He was alone with her. He gulped. He knew he'd have to tease her –again- seeing as Hermione's outburst had left the two alone.

He looked over at her. She seemed content in silence, and he hoped she would stay that way so that he wouldn't have to resort to teasing her.

But then she said to him, "Do you think I should have broken up with Dean?"

He knew she wanted him to give a serious answer, but he couldn't give one. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Probably not… I mean he was the best you could do."

Damn.

Immediately her face turned a tinge of pink

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I… Er, I- I" As he spluttered, her face turned steadily more red. He knew what was coming.

"Are you implying, Potter," he winced as she said her last name with such hatred. "That I can't get a guy? Are you implying that I'm so hideous, annoying, and boring that I couldn't get anyone else?" She paused, daring him to respond. When he didn't (in his opinion, a good move) she continued.

"You know, I don't get you, Harry. All I've been to you is nice and caring and I've listened to you. I've been a good friend, but I'm still not good enough for you! Then you go and constantly make fun of me. It hurts, Harry. As much as I pretend like it doesn't, it does, because I don't understand what I've done wrong. You're acting like you're my brother or something! Guess what? You're not! So why do you act like this?"

"Gin-"

Right as he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off.

"You know what; I don't even what to hear your excuses. I'm done with you, Harry."

She stomped away towards the castle. "Ginny!" He called after her.

She didn't even look back. This called for drastic measures.

"It's because I love you, okay?"

She stopped dead in her tracks. After a moment, she took off running. He tried to follow her, but she had such a lead, he had no idea where she'd gone.

He ran to the common room (no Ginny there, or in her dormitory, he got Hermione to check for him) to fetch his map. He located Ginny quickly- she was at the Quidditch pitch.

When he arrived there, she was sitting in the bleachers, staring at nothing in particular. Her face was tear streaked. He took off his cloak so as not to startle her by popping out of thin air. He knew that she knew he was coming, but she didn't even look at him.

"Gin, can I talk to you"

"You already are."

"…Erm, yes, well, I just-"

She cut him off for the second time today. "What is it with you? How could you say that to me? You must know very well that I still like you, and for you to use that to hurt me- I expected it from anyone else, but not you, Harry."

He was very pleased to hear she liked him, although frustrated that she thought he was making fun of her with it. "I meant what I said."

It took her a moment to register this. "What?" she asked faintly.

"Okay, I'm just going to say this, and please don't interrupt me or I wont be able to go on."

"After we stared hanging out this summer, I realized I like you. A lot. It scared me, and since you were going out with Dean I tried to deny it to myself. Needless to say, I started turning red and stuttering whenever I talked to you. I hated that you affected me like that, so then I tried just plain avoiding you. But you confronted me about it, and I then decided I had to stop. So I dealt with it the only way I could- by teasing you. It was stupid. I know, but it was the only way I could talk to you at all. Then, after today at the lake, I knew I couldn't go on with it any longer. I told you how I felt, but you thought I was making fun of you. And now we're here, and… and… now we're here?" He finished lamely.

Ginny simply stared. Harry took this as a sign to continue.

"Gin, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I've been acting like I'm ten years old, and I made some stupid decisions. And I'm also sorry about what I said at the lake. I wasn't implying that you're hideous, annoying, and boring, in fact you're the opposite and I-"

She finally seemed to come out of her shock.

"As much as I'm enjoying this apology and hearing about how wonderful I am, I'll spare you. You're rambling, Harry."

He grinned apologetically.

She continued. "And well, since we're apologizing and everything, I'm sorry for blowing up at the lake…"

"No, its fine, I understand completely. Besides… you're kinda cute when you scream."

She laughed, and he leaned in to kiss her.

They then broke apart, and Harry said with a laugh, "Thank Merlin I can talk around you normally again… that teasing was driving me insane, that was."

"I thank Merlin too… I was beginning to think that you hated me."

"I could never hate you, Gin. You're amazing… a little on the hideous, annoying, and boring side, but amazing nevertheless." He finished with a half smile.

"Harry…" She said warningly.

"Just teasing, of course." And he leaned in for another kiss.

--

**Eh, why do my fics never turn out how I'd like them? I suppose this one was okay…**

**But please review so I can see what you thought. Thanks!**

**(Thanks to Harry Potter Ninja for pointing out my error)**


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